Coffee: From Bean to Barista

by Robert W. Thurston

Overview

This engaging guide traces the history, cultivation, and culture of coffee, as well as the major factors influencing the industry today. Robert Thurston provides a readable, concise overview of coffee from the time the seeds of the coffee fruit are planted to the latest ideas in roasting and making beverages. He considers cultivation and its challenges, especially climate change; new research on hybridization; the history of coffee and cultural change surrounding it around the world; devices, new and old, for making coffee drinks; the issue of organic versus conventional agriculture; and the health benefits of the brew. The first book that coffee lovers naturally will turn to, it will also appeal to anyone interested in globalization, climate change, and social justice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538108086
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	10/08/2018
Edition description:	Brief
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Robert W. Thurston is professor emeritus of history at Miami University, and he is the senior editor of Coffee: A Comprehensive Guide to the Bean, the Beverage, and the Industry. He is managing partner at Oxford Coffee Company, a roastery and coffee bar in Oxford, Ohio.

Table of Contents

1 INTRODUCTION
2 IN PRODUCING COUNTRIES:
COFFEE FROM FARM TO PORT
Where and How Coffee Grows
Organic vs. Synthetic: Yes, Coffee Is Full of Chemicals
Coffee Cultivation
Women in Coffee
Gathering and Processing the Harvest
The Cost of Coffee through the Supply Chain
Certification Programs: Benefits and Drawbacks
Cupping (Rating and Purchasing Decisions)
Climate Change
3 ROASTING COFFEE, MAKING COFFEE DRINKS
Coffee Consumption around the World
What Is “Sophistication”?
How Coffee Spread around the Globe
Roasting
Making Coffee to Drink
4 COFFEE AND HEALTH,
SOCIAL AND PERSONAL
How Coffee Brought Social and Political Disruption to the World
Coffee and Personal Health
Caffeine
Recent Research on Coffee and Health
5 CONCLUSION
GLOSSARY
NOTES
INDEX
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Editorial Reviews

01/07/2019

Thurston, professor emeritus of history at Miami University and managing partner at Oxford Coffee Company, pours out a rich history of the coffee industry. Thurston argues that coffee is the most important tropical agricultural product traded in the world, and notes that there are at least 50 million coffee farm workers on the planet. He explores the history of coffee (the earliest written reference to the beverage was found in a 1497 letter from the Sinai Peninsula), growing conditions in each significant coffee-producing region, and the difficulties of growing coffee organically. He also covers such intriguing asides as the process of intestinal fermentation, in which animals digest and excrete coffee cherries (the product of which commands up to $300 a pound). He offers insights into grinding beans for espresso (it should be “the consistency of fine sand”), and traces the meanings of terms commonly associated with coffee, such as espresso (which originally meant “quick service” and came to refer to a type of coffee in 1947 Italy thanks to the Gaggia machine) and barista (which Mussolini is said to have coined). Thurston encourages coffee lovers to buy good-quality whole beans and grind them at home, and to buy “fair trade” coffee so more money makes its way to the farmers. Thurston’s sophisticated guide to coffee’s history, cultivation, and enjoyment will more than satisfy coffee aficionados. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Coffee is an inspiration that goes beyond our knowledge, our boundaries, and our limits. Robert Thurston has felt this inspiration since his first visits to coffee-producing countries, and he has put that experience into transformative and knowledgeable words. Now we can taste more than just a cup of coffee; we can envision a coffee farm and, more important, a coffee-farming family. This superb book closes our knowledge gap and makes all of us more sensitive, emotional, and informed about coffee.

Olga Lucía Cuéllar Gómez

Conversational and comprehensive, Robert Thurston’s blend of entertaining anecdotes, home experiments, and reliable statistics answers with precision the questions asked by coffee enthusiasts. Going beyond thoughtful explanations about ‘how’ the global coffee industry works, Thurston provides satisfying answers on ‘why’ it works and what can be done to make it work better.

Dan Bolton

[An] engaging guide to the history, cultivation, and culture of coffee.

Roast Magazine Daily Coffee News

The book is written in a very engaging style, with a feel like the author is talking to the reader, sometimes with details about the author’s experiences, or tips for the reader to help them enjoy their coffee. There’s a helpful glossary at the end too for some of the key terms and acronyms used throughout the book. A welcome addition to my ‘coffee library’.

Cafespaces

Coffee is an inspiration that goes beyond our knowledge, our boundaries, and our limits. Robert Thurston has felt this inspiration since his first visits to coffee-producing countries, and he has put that experience into transformative and knowledgeable words. Now we can taste more than just a cup of coffee; we can envision a coffee farm and, more important, a coffee-farming family. This superb book closes our knowledge gap and makes all of us more sensitive, emotional, and informed about coffee.

Olga Lucía Cuéllar Gómez

One of the very best coffee books to be released in a very long time.

Barista Magazine Blog